January 05, 2010
Get Noticed - Recruiting Questionnaire 101
By Jake Chapman, Showcase U Co-founder
The Recruiting Questionnaire
If
you are looking to grab the attention of a college coach, one of the
easiest things you can do is fill out an electronic recruiting
questionnaire. A recruiting questionnaire is an electronic form found on
many DI, DII, DIII, NAIA, and NJCAA athletic websites that allows you
to submit relevant information to a program. Typically, these forms
are sport specific, so to locate them on a college website, you should
do the following:
(I will use my alma mater, Saint Joseph's College (IN) as an example)
- Find the school's website. www.saintjoe.edu
- Find the link to athletics. www.saintjoe.edu/athletics
- Select a sport. www.saintjoe.edu/athletics/sports/?sport=baseball
- Find a recruitment form. www.saintjoe.edu/athletics/form.php
- Fill it out accurately.
- Answer the questions thoughtfully.
- Double-check your entries.
- Simply click SUBMIT when you are done.
**Shameless plug alert**
Did you know every member at ShowcaseU.com can find every
school, coach and baseball team website in the country with virtually 1
or 2 clicks of the mouse? Save yourself months of research on Google,
join ShowcaseU and jump to step 4 of this list....Click here for a sample coach profile to see what I mean. :)
Back to the blog....
Reasons why filling out a recruiting questionnaire is important to coaches.
- It is info they want.
This may seem too obvious, but some coaches are insulted that their
forms are ignored. Don't be so quick to send that unsolicited e-mail
or fax unless you know there is no form available. By filling out
their form, you'll be giving them exactly what they are asking for, and
you'll start the recruitment process off on the right foot. This is a
sign of respect that you recognize they put thought and effort into
this form. (For those of you wondering about pictures, videos and all
other stats, you can still paste your "ShowcaseURL" in the entry fields that asks for other or additional information.
- They know you are not spam.
As a former employee at a college, I know that many institutions have
implemented strict filtering system and increased levels of spam
protection. There are times that some e-mails are recognized as spam,
and never reach their intended target. Also, as I eluded to in the
prior point, coaches receive unsolicited e-mails from recruiting
services every day. They promise families they'll blanket the entire
college landscape by sending it out to EVERY coach in the country. As
a result, "some" e-mails start looking like spam, and simply get
ignored or deleted. Recruiting questionnaires do not fit in this
category. Upon completion, your submission triggers an e-mail from
THEM to THEM about YOU.
- They know you are a serious inquiry.
Coaches know that if you've found your way to their recruiting
questionnaire, there is a good chance you've done some "other" homework
already. You may have visited the homepage of the institution,
reviewed the curriculum, perhaps even checked out admissions, financial
aid, and student life information. Serious inquiries are exactly what
coaches are looking for. Just last week, in a discussion with a coach
of a current top 20 collegiate division II baseball program, I learned
that he doesn't respond to a lot of initial e-mails. He assumes that a
student is "casting" out as many lines in the water just to see how
many "fish" will bite. In this case, he'd rather you reverse the role,
become the fish, and just jump in his boat. By filling out his
recruiting questionnaire, you are doing just that. It is up to
him to decide if you are a good catch or not.
I'd
love to hear your thoughts on some additional reasons to fill out a
recruiting questionnaire. Leave a comment and tell us what you think.
I only listed a handful...there are many more!